Editor’s Note: Updated at 4:30 p.m. on April 4, 2025, to include comment from the WIAA.

RENTON, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The state’s governing body for high school sports says it will be unable to enforce two potential rule changes limiting participation from transgender students.

WIAA spokesperson Sean Bessette told My Bellingham Now in a statement that the organization has been told by the Attorney General’s office and other state agencies that its proposed amendments would violate state law.

MBN previously reported that the WIAA is considering two amendments surrounding transgender participation in high school sports.

One proposed by the Lynden, Lynden Christian and Blaine school districts would limit participation in girls’ sports to students who were assigned female at birth. Current WIAA policy allows all students to play in a way that’s consistent with their “gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed.”

The other proposal by the Lynden school district would offer an athletic program outside of “boys and girls” that would be an open division for those who identify as transgender or nonbinary.

Bessette says the WIAA will vote on the proposed amendments starting on April 9, though they will only be considered for “advisory-only” votes and won’t be implemented unless state law changes.